UnifiedLoginUnlock

Revision 11 as of 2006-11-27 19:48:57

NOTE: This page is part of the Ubuntu Specification process. Please check the status and details in Launchpad before editing. If the spec is Approved then you should contact the Assignee, or another knowledgeable person, before making changes.

Launchpad entry: https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/consistent-login-screen
Packages affected: gdm, fast-user-switch-applet

Summary

Currently, "fast user switching" and logging in and out can generate very confusing results: black screens, needing to type passwords more than once, accidentally logging in twice as the same user (which breaks Gnome, etc).

Also, currently Ubuntu has three different login screens for (1) first user login, (2) unlocking the screensaver and (3) login as a new user when another user's screen lock is active. This is inconsistent and confusing.

User Interface

There will be a single screen used for logging in, user switching, and screen unlocking.
The automatic screensaver will switch to that screen. "Switch users" will also switch to that screen.
Logging in will automatically switch back to (and unlock) an existing session if there is one, or start a new one if not.
You will never be offered a new session when you already have one unless you manually switch VCs.

Which of the various existing screen designs is to be picked as the preferred one? (I have a slight preference for gdm's, since the others seem too bleak for an initial login.) I think it might be a good idea to modify it in some subtle way if reached from the screensaver or fast-user-switch, otherwise it will give the impression that you're having to log in again because your desktop crashed. --ColinWatson

Currently, the screensaver pre-fills your username, which it can do because the login screen runs within your session and only your session. With a single login screen for all users, this invariant no longer holds. Can this be done iff there is a single user with an active screensaver, or perhaps pre-fill the last user who activated their screensaver? How do the various screensavers communicate this state? --ColinWatson

Design

The login screen will be detached from the user's session and run in a different dedicated X server on a dedicated VC; arrangements will be made to automatically switch back and forth between VCs as appropriate. Logging in will switch to an existing session and unlock it.

Could this be paraphrased as something like "the X server used by the gdm login screen hangs around forever, and is reused by the screensaver and fast user switching"? --ColinWatson

This will need changes to gdm and fast-user-switch-applet and quite probably the screen locker too.

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